Beta, Wave... 3? (Patreon)

so i'm in this awkward position right now, right, where half of you have beta access and are playing through the game at various points and places and some of you have already beaten it and dug through everything in the game or are going on a second playthrough and then a third group entirely doesn't even have access yet until this weekend...

...so, i have a good handful of things to talk about, but how to do so without spoilers???
i mean, finally letting the game speak for itself is great 

but we also have many new faces who i would like to keep up with!!!
it has been wonderful watching everyone's reactions to the game and getting to know you all via the threads and reactions,
and yet there are still many out there who don't have that chance!!!!

maybe in the next couple weeks we will have a poll so i can check in with how you are getting through it and then make some decisions about how spoilery i want my posts to be...

for now, let's post some backlogged patch notes for the group that doesn't already have access:

• Corrected a cat where Indra2 did not properly decrease money like other grinding trainers
• Added password "freeexpall" to receive the EXP All at the start of the game
• Added password "pinata", allowing grinding trainer battles to be skipped; just talk to them for EXP Candy.
• Added password "freeremotepc", to receive the Remote PC at the start of the game and remove the Cell Battery cost.
• The Remote PC can no longer be used during E4 challenges.
• Eevium-Z no longer doubles as Eviolite. Still doubles as Everstone.
• Dig has been added to easyhms TMX menu
• Added a Gift Shop to the Spinel Museum post-restoration
• By popular demand, Multi-Attack has uniquely received its gen 8 buff of being 120 BP.
• Updated Online Version to e19. Online is now accessible for the beta only and not everyone with e18.
• Added some basic NG+ functionality
• --After saving a file that has completed these tasks, the following quests can be skipped on future save files, obtaining rewards automatically:
• ------Dex collection
• ------Starter egg collection
• ------Double magic square
• --If this appears to be working well, we can explore broader applications of it too.
• Trainer Pokemon with undefined natures now roll neutral natures instead of random natures
• Back-ups will now automatically be made before a few points of no return.

...so, community release is this weekend.
we're aiming for the 10 year anniversary of the 1st episode's release.
it's gonna be big.
we're going from like ~ 200+ testers to more like, 10,000+ testers
maybe more. 

fucking terrifying.

also exciting!

also terrifying.

anyway... it wouldn't hurt to get a little extra testing in before then...

...also, i feel a little weird that there are some people who follow and read these posts regularly (hi i appreciate you all <3) and have for years
but they don't end up playing the game until the same time as the rest of the community 

i mean, that was how i laid out the tiers, but the tiers are kind of arbitrary...
and you'll have access in a few days anyway...
so uh, i mean, what if our finger slipped and we let you in just a little early...?

haha

just kidding

...unless?

so anyway, if you're a person who is in the Level 1 or Level 3 tiers here, follow the instructions in this post. Your account won't say Supporter, and you'll have to specifically wait for one of the admins to let you in, but, come play.

given that everyone here is going to have access now, and this weekend is going to be chaos hell clusterfuck, i probably will not make a post announcing community release itself. expect to hear from a very tired, hyped, only technically-functional ame again next week.